


Hide and Seek

by Palefire73



Series: Loki Origins [15]
Category: Frigga - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Thor - Fandom
Genre: Games, Gen, Hide and Seek, Loki wants to win, Magic, Thor is a great big brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:18:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6136407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frigga loves games and decides to treat the Princes and their friends to a game of hide and seek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hide and Seek

A persistent mischievous frame of mind pestered Frigga and she found it difficult to simply settle down to play card games or to help Loki to draw pictures with his crayons; she wanted to have some fun! Some days the life of the Queen of Asgard became a little tedious and she would often create something new to do, or take inspiration from one of the many realms she had had the good fortune to visit during her long years and introduce a game or past time she had seen somewhere.

“Thor, Loki – tidy away your things. I have a game for us to play.” She announced. The boys looked up happily – a game! Knowing Mother it should be fun. As they placed their toys into the large box in the corner of the nursery, they heard her ask Fulla to go to collect a few of the other children who spent some of their day at the Palace and their sense of anticipation grew. Thor grinned at Loki, who did not really know what was going on, but his older brother looked excited about what their mother had said and so he was too.

 

By the time everything was made tidy and the two of them had paid a visit to the bathroom (“Just in case.”, as Fulla advised) and were ready, about half a dozen of their companions had turned up and everyone was chattering animatedly. Frigga bade them all sit down and to pay attention so she could explain what they were going to do. She placed a finger on her lips and looked at the eager young faces, waiting for them all to settle down.

“Now, children!” She said brightly, “Who would like to play a game?” A chorus of young voices rose and she laughed, shushing them once more. “Very well! Quiet now, while I explain. Some of the older children have already played this game before, so…” she glanced at Thor and a few of the others, “… you four each take one of the younger ones as your partner and you can play as teams.

 

Little Prince Loki looked up as he felt his hand being enveloped by a larger, stronger one and his heart swelled with love. Thor was grinning down at him from his tanned face, framed as it was by his golden locks. His blue eyes twinkled as he said, “We will win this for sure, brother. I am very good at this game!”

Excitement built in Loki’s chest and he turned to listen to Frigga, who was explaining the rules of the game to make sure at least the older children would understand.

 

“There are several ways to play this game. Today we play the one where teams try to find one person who is “It” and hides somewhere. I will show you the other ways to play another time. Today, I will start off as “It” and you all have to remain in this room while I go to hide. Fulla will count to one hundred and then you will set off to find me. To make it a little simpler we will keep the boundaries of the game within the Royal suites. The team who finds me wins!”

The children turned to each other, chattering about the game; the younger ones were excited at the notion of searching for someone who had purposefully hidden from them and the older ones were already feeling important and proud to be the ones asked to guide them. Their Queen busied herself braiding her hair back tidily in case she needed to secrete herself somewhere a little tight-fitting and removed her cloak.

“Well then, children!” Called Fulla loudly and they quietened down. “Her Highness will now go…” She waved Frigga off and the Queen winked at the children before breaking into an impressive sprint out of the playroom of the nursery, “… and I shall count. Does anyone wish to count with me? Come along, it will be good practise! Ready? One… two… three… four…”

“Five… six… seven… eight…” More voices joined in with the Lady-In-Waiting and Frigga grinned as she left the nursery suite to go to find somewhere to hide. She decided to stay reasonably close so that the children would not grow bored in their hunt. She chose one of the luxurious bathrooms in the Royal accommodation, which in Asgard were unisex. After wandering around inside to see where to hide, she rejected the large bath, one of the lavatory stalls and the linen closet and secreted herself in the small space behind the inner door to the room which was propped open against a wall. Trying very hard to keep quiet, she settled to wait to see who would happen along.

 

Now Loki, who had been fidgeting as all three-year-old children tend to do, had not really been paying attention when the rules were explained; he simply wanted to go running around the Palace trying to find his mother before anyone else did. He tugged at Thor’s blue tunic and his older brother smiled down at him, exaggerating the counting to try to get the little boy to join in.

“… seventy-three… come along Loki – count with us! Seventy-six… seventy-seven…”

“…seventy-eight… seventy-nine…” Piped up the little Prince, absolutely bursting to start the hunt. At long last they reached the magic one hundred and he pulled hard on Thor’s tunic, “This way!” he exclaimed and Thor, quite entertained by his younger sibling’s enthusiasm took hold of his small hand and followed him.

 

Loki followed the golden sparkles floating in the air. Could no one else see his mother’s beautiful signature? He glanced around at the other children and wondered why they were not using them to find her, but wanted so badly to get there first that he quickly forgot and pulled harder at Thor’s hand, “I want to go this way!” he said excitedly and pulled the older Prince along the corridor that linked all the various Royal suites, be they for the ruling family or their guests. To Thor’s amusement, his little brother marched quite confidently in the direction of one of the many bathrooms and opened the door. It was as if the three year old already knew where their mother was! They paused just inside the door and Loki looked this way and that, as if he was suddenly unsure about his choice of hiding place.

 

The truth was that Loki could see faint trails of shimmering golden light criss-crossing the room inside, which was quite a large bathroom with lavatories, baths, shower stalls, sinks and changing cubicles. His mother must have come in here to look, but was she still here? The little boy decided it was probably best to quickly check and he turned to Thor, “Mother is in here. Can we check?”

“Yes, of course, Brother. But how…?” His question went unasked as Loki started to walk around the spacious room. He went over to a large bath and stood on his tip toes trying to look over the brim into the generously sized tub, “Are you in there?” his little voice called out, and Thor went over to lift him up so he could see. The brown haired head shook slowly and a little solemn voice said, “No – not in there.” He wriggled and Thor put him down, whereupon he crossed to a small linen closet and opened the door. “Are you in there?” He called again and Thor reached in to show that there were only towels inside.

 

Satisfied that there was no one in there, Loki turned away and looked around. To Thor’s amazement, he called out,

“Mother, you are in here! Where are you?!”

 

There was no answer, which Thor only expected, but rather than accepting this, Loki placed his hands on his hips and called out again.

 

“Mother. I know you are here! Where are you? The lines are not clear.”

 

 _What did he mean, “The lines are not clear?”_ Wondered Thor and he went over to Loki, “Brother, I think she may be somewhere else…” he started.

“I am here!” came a voice and the two of them looked around. That had been Frigga’s voice!

 

Loki ran over to a large ornate sink and peered down the plug hole, “Are you down there?!” He asked, leaning right in to look, and Thor pulled him away.

“No, brother! How would she get in there? It is too small!”

“Where are you Mother?!” Called Loki again.

“I am here!” Came the reply, and the two boys laughed at the response. Loki suddenly became concerned as to where she could be. There were not many places left in the room where they had not checked. It was with a worried face that he approached one of the lavatories and looked into the white porcelain bowl. He glanced back up at Thor, who was wondering why his brother had gone there – did he need to relieve himself? But then the little boy’s worried voice piped up in an anxious question… “Are you in there?! Have you fallen down there?!”

“Loki, of course not! How could she have got in there? Come along – let us check the perimeter of the room." Thor had listened carefully the last time and had a good idea as to where their mother was hiding, but he wanted Loki to find her. The little boy was looking a bit upset now. How he had known Frigga was in this room so confidently, Thor did not know, but he was clearly unsure as to exactly where – or how safe – she was. He took his hand and they started going round the room, looking in niches and behind towel stands, calling out all the while. Then suddenly, Loki seemed to notice something.

 

Thor’s hand was left empty and dangling in mid-air as his younger brother slipped his grasp and ran over to the main door, which was made up of two doors; an outer ornate door to the corridor outside and an inner plain door. Wrenching the inner door away from where it was resting against the wall behind it, he cried out “Móðir! and hugged at a shadowy figure behind it. Thor grinned as his mother emerged from behind the door having picked Loki up, and the little boy had wrapped his arms around her and had nestled into her chest, hugging her tightly.

 

“Well done, boys!” She said proudly, “What a team effort from the Princes of Odin. How did you find me so quickly?”

“Well,” Said Thor, “Loki was adamant that you were in here somewhere, but I think he became worried that you had somehow got yourself trapped in the pipework – or even down the toilet! That is why he began to call out.”

“I am so proud of you two. We should return to the nursery and let everyone know. Maybe we can start a new game. Can you go to let Fulla know you found me, Thor?”

“Yes, Mother!” Grinned the blue eyed Prince, and he left the bathroom to go to the nursery.

 

Once he had left, Frigga kissed the top of Loki’s head as he continued to hug her and take comfort in her embrace.

“How did you find me so quickly, Loki?” She asked, curious as to how he had decided to come straight to the bathroom, which was along the corridor from the nursery and not necessarily an obvious choice as a place to hide.

“The sparkles, Móðir,” Replied the little boy, “I followed your sparkles.”

**Author's Note:**

> I adore hide and seek and I love the idea that Frigga was herself a bit of a mischief!  
> This is based on an anecdote told to me by a friend about when she hid from her very young son in their bathroom behind the door and the poor little tot was calling out "Are you in there?" to the sink, the bath and the toilet, getting more and more distressed until she made a convenient noise and he found her behind the door!
> 
> Exploring the idea that even Frigga is not aware of everything about her Seidr and just how talented Loki will eventually become in its use. Also really enjoying the exploration of the young relationship between the brothers ;D
> 
> Thanks for reading x


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